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Gmail Filter Assistant v0.18

Add an embedded filter management module in message display page, which makes adding a filter much easier <<--- Change log: A quick fix for display bug --->>

Small bug of label order fixed.

Update for recent Gmail change.

Note: Old auto update doesn't work in new Gmail. Please update the source manually. And filter data structure has been changed, please backup your filter data again.

GMail Filter Assistant was featured on LifeHacker on April 9th as "Download of the Day!", and is included in Lifehacker Code: Better Gmail

FAQ
  • After I create the filter and apply it to existing conversations, it seems the filter doesn't work at all on existing conversations.
    A: Since the script is a "foreign object" to Gmail, Gmail doesn't know what the script does to it, so it won't refresh automatically on the changes the script makes. Click on "Inbox" link once or twice to refresh the conversation list.
  • Can I use this script to migrate the labels and filters in one gmail account to another?
    A: Yes you can. Click any email in any conversation and click "Filter assistant" link to open the GFA, see the dropdown menu in the middle right? use Backup/Restore filter&label to migrate the settings.
    Please be advised that when you restore settings from saved data to another account, its existing filters will be overwritten if their filtering criteria are the same as some in the saved data. So, **BACKUP YOUR DATA BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING**.

Update log (see full log here)
03/19/2007
  • Quick fix for display bug.

11/15/2007
  • Small bug of label order fixed.
  • Update for Gmail changes.

04/19/2007
  • Small display bug fixed.
  • New look of Gmail filter Script! v0.16 released. Now GFA is mail specific, i.e., each email in a conversation will have its own GFA link. Note that the link in the "More actions" menu is removed, since the yellow tag is removed and hiding it doesn't make sense any longer. Many thanks to Bernice Freas, John McNamara and Jörg Menke for testing the script.

04/16/2007
  • Some users complained that the update link didn't work for them. So I did modification to point the link to the script homepage instead of the script itself.
04/11/2007
  • Small bug on escaped character fixed. thanks, Richard It seems the special characters used in the filter criteria and labels cause a lot of trouble :P Some characters have been handled correctly in the latest version. I will do a systematic research on this issue and make a patch soon.


Screenshots



Installation
  • If you don't have Firefox web browser installed on your computer, you can download it here
  • Install Greasemonkey extension in Firefox, find the latest version here. A detailed installation guide can be found here
  • Install Gmail Filter Assistant by clicking the "Install this script" link on this page (a black button in the upper-right corner), and follow the procedure.
User's Guide
  • Login your Gmail account as normal
  • Open any mail you received, and you can see a link near the "Reply" at the upper right corner at each email in the thread (see screenshot 1), click it
  • The Filter Assistant workspace will appear, fill the form as what you do in the Gmail "Setting/Filter" and click "Create Filter".
TODO List
  • Filter backup/restore (Done)
  • Consolidate filters that target to the same label and have the same action list
  • Provide suggested filter criteria when clicking the criteria textbox
  • Filter management extension that can view/edit/add/delete filter more easily
  • find a way to utilize multi-language resource from Google.
Suggestions From Users:
  • Multi-language support
  • Named filter
  • Multi-label for one email
  • Put GFA link in "More Actions" menu
Bug Report

Grab the error messages and send them to me

If you find the script doesn't work for you, please do the following:
1. open menu item: Tools->Error Console, and click "Errors" on the top.
2. Clear all the messages (by clicking the cross mark on the upper-right corner).
3. Login your GMail account, and click any email, do whatever you want to do.
4. see if there's any error messages in the Error Console, if yes, copy/paste them and email them to me.


If you want any functionality to be added, let me know.



Apr 24, 2008
Troy D. White User

I use a ton of filters, wish I would have found this earlier! It will come in handy in the future. Great script, thanks.
 
Apr 11, 2008
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

Karin,

If what you mean is "Mark as read" option in the action list, check this pic to see where it is. :)

http://i25.tinypic.com/23i9ppt.jpg
 
Apr 5, 2008
Karin User

I'd love to use the 'read as marked' filter, but it's not available in my Filter Assistant. I successfully installed the script and the Filter Assistant is present in my gMail, but the option 'read as marked' is not there. No errors in my error console. Using Firefox on a Mac, could that be the problem?
 
Mar 27, 2008
wmblewett Scriptwright

Hey Ming... sorry I didn't reply sooner, I wasn't subscribed to this feed... I installed the update and it works great again... good on ya, have fun with that thesis!
 
Mar 20, 2008
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

Hi all,

I just did a quick fix for the display bug. Please try it and let me know if there's any other problems.

Thanks
 
Mar 20, 2008
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

Guys, thanks for posting the bug.

I am writing my phd thesis recently and have not much energy left on this issue. I will get it fixed as soon as possible.

best regards
 
Mar 8, 2008
Astrid Pedersen User

Same problem here, too. I miss the filter assistant. It is also no longer included in the Better Gmail extension. Is it even updated anymore?

Best, Astrid
 
Mar 7, 2008
Justin Noel User

I have the exact same problem as posted below and when I click on the button it it says loading and then nothing happens.
 
Mar 6, 2008
wmblewett Scriptwright

I'm having a display problem... here's a screenshot.

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3662/filtera...
 
Feb 29, 2008
Justin Noel User

This script worked perfectly for the longest time but now suddenly it doesn't work at all. In the new version of gmail the button shows up but when you click on it nothing happens and in the older version nothing shows up at all. I use this all the time and it would be great if it were working again.
 
Jan 31, 2008
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

sjb,

Thanks for pointing this out. Can you make it clear that the issue disappeared after you disable the Greasemonkey plugin or this script? This script does nothing related to the video card.
 
Dec 20, 2007
sjb User

Thanks for this great idea, and almost great execution. =)

There is a peculiar issue I have discovered, and it relates to the way this script utilizes display adapters or video cards.

I have tested this on two different machines, one brand new and very fast, and the same issue occurs.

When this script is enabled in Greasemonkey, it causes Flash video (and possibly other video in and out of the browser) to "jump" at a consistent interval of around 1.5 seconds. This occurs regardless of the tab in which the video is viewed within Firefox.

Also, when I disable only this Greasemonkey plugin, I must refresh Gmail, and then the issue stops. When I reinable this plugin and refresh, it begins again.

It would be great to resolve this. It is very annoying. =)

Any thoughts?

Best,

/s
 
Nov 16, 2007
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

pingeee:

In new Gmail, google provides a "Mark as read" action for filtering, which is exactly what you want .

Install the latest script to use it :)
 
Nov 2, 2007
noisygecko User

Really cool script, thanks!

Only thing I was having a problem with is the width of the menu entry added to the email top bar. So I edited the script to just use the word "Filter" (instead of "Filter Assistant").
 
Oct 30, 2007
Jeff Ruday User

Could this script be used to import filters and labels from one Gmail account to another? Thank you.
 
Jul 26, 2007
hebbet Scriptwright

Since I installed Better Gmail, I created more Filters. Thanks for this great Script.
 
Jun 11, 2007
pingeee User

Good script, thanks.

I would like to have a feature "mark as read".

Sometimes I will copy and paste a portion of useful infor from my newsletter and send the info back to myself for archiving. This feature will be useful for me to archive the mail immediately "as read".

Thanks
 
May 22, 2007
Amy User

Positively Fabulous! The most useful of all Gmail scripts, works like a charm! I barely bothered with filters before.

Thanks!
 
Apr 19, 2007
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

chenyangwei, please show respect to other people.
 
Apr 18, 2007
J Allen User

Brilliant!
 
Apr 12, 2007
Rkleim User

After a slight glitch, this script works great! I cannot understand why google doesn't want to do filters right, but Ming has stepped up and added the functionality we need. Thanks!
 
Apr 10, 2007
Ming (Amos) ... Script's author

Rkleim,

Can you follow the procedure of "Grab the error messages" on top of this page and send me any error messages you got?

Thanks
 
Apr 10, 2007
Rkleim User

I have installed this script on 4 machines, all running win xp Pro and firefox (all latest upgrades). Doesn't work on any of them. The filter assistant button shows up, clicking on it brings up the filter pane, but when I choose an option and click on create filter, nothing happens. if I do not select an option, clicking on create filter brings up an error message saying at least one option must be selected. I have tried everything I can think of.
 
Apr 10, 2007
Sjeem User

Cool script! It does not work when the language is set to Dutch unfortunately. I've set it to English and now it works fine!
 
Apr 10, 2007
joshyu Scriptwright

It works well with my gmail and greasemonkey. thanx!

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